PopCap to be acquired by EA

by Andrew Yoon, Jul 12, 2011 1:15pm PDT

Related Topics – Business, Electronic Arts, PopCap, Acquisition

PopCap, makers of casual games like Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, and Bejeweled, will be acquired by EA for $750 million. The announcement comes just weeks after initial rumors pegged a one billion dollar acquisition by EA. In actuality, EA will pay approximately $650 million in cash and $100 million in shares of EA common stock to "certain stockholders" of PopCap.

EA has been aggressively pursuing the digital and casual market, and the PopCap acquisition will help augment EA's growing portfolio in the arena. It purchased Playfish two years ago, a deal which has translated some of its biggest properties into Facebook games.

"EA and PopCap are a compelling combination," said EA CEO John Riccitiello in a press release. "PopCap's great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA's momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA's global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels."

"We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games," said David Roberts, CEO of PopCap. "By working with EA, we'll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience."

The deal is expected to close next month, subject to "customary closing conditions" and "regulatory approvals." EA will have a press conference soon, and we'll update with further details.

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By: Shacknews x Show Full Post

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Andrew Yoon posted a new article, PopCap to be acquired by EA.

PopCap, makers of social games like Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, and Bejeweled, will be acquired by EA.

Jul 12, 2011 1:15pm PDT

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Andrew Yoon posted a new article, PopCap to be acquired by EA.

PopCap, makers of social games like Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, and Bejeweled, will be acquired by EA. : Shacknews
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 71 replies.
- Another one bites the dust? : dlr(2)
- There's a big surprise! I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die of not surprise : daggot
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  Only available on Origin! : legsbrogan
  - Plants vs. Zombies 2? Only on Origin? Say it isn't so! : DragonSire
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  Lol, so the rumor was right on, despite it being "debunked." : jacobvandy
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    The original rumor was pointing at a BILLION dollars. So, it was only PART correct. : XAVdeMATOS
    - I read somewhere (sorry, lost the like) that potentially the PopCap shareholders could walk out with $1.5... : Masem
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  This depresses me, is there anything EA won't swallow into its bloated structure. : Blaz3r1982
  - your mom lol : jjastor2
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    Could be worse. Could've been Activision. Other than their stupid Origin shenanigans, EA's been pretty de... : Entity
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      They have killed Mirror's Edge franchise, I'm sure they will burn in hell for that. : Kub666
      
      Are you seriously calling a single game a franchise? : Schuultz
      
      No one bought that game, we killed it. : Sailor of Fortune
      
      the game was a piece of shit. Idiots like to sound art house by claiming it was something great. It wa... : SniperWolf22
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    I think their executives go to workshops on swallowing. : ShoCon
    - I see what you did there. : Schuultz
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    They've tried buying Valve a few times now I think : Godhatesfatpeople
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      Is nothing sacred?? : Ambient80
      
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      Well they've been turned down every time. The closest EA will get to Valve is putting their games into a ... : Godhatesfatpeople
      
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      i wonder how much Valve is worth with their IP's and Steam.... : head crab
      
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      If Popcap is $750 million, then I'd say minimum $2 billion, that all seems really high to me though. : one random winner
      
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      i would think Steam alone would be around $2 billion....but what do i know :P : head crab
      
      Steam has to be valued at its money making potential, and it prints money. : Rooster Cockburn
      
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      I'd say all of Valve is worth 10 billion dollars at least. They put out mega-hits every year, have smart... : 0mar
      
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      i would just think it was 100 million billion kajillion squared : dantastic
      
      You're all wrong. Steam is worth 100 gadillion vafillion magillion bars of gold pressed latinum. : TwiLyght
      
      Valve is worth way more then 2 billion. Zygna was valued at 10 billion : bozer
      
      Not that it's the best measure, but Popcap has 400 employees to Valve's 260. : aethyr
      
      Various sources value the company at $2 billion to $4 billion http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/t... : Haxim
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  Poor Jeff green. : Dadozer
  - My thoughts exactly. : baron calamity
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    Yeah, I was listening to the 8/17/2010 Bombcast, the one he guest starred in the day after he left EA. ... : the archvile
    - Hahahaha, "As long as I get a free copy of Mass Effect 3, it's all good!" http://twitter.com/#!/Greens... : the archvile
- Damn :( : K1Bond007
- I guess I better buy the PopCap complete pack on Steam before EA has it pulled. : ShoCon
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  "Pegged" heh! : megarust32
  - Clearly, EA has planted themselves into our favorite games. : Ambient80
- This makes me sad. : Thund3rball
- Lame. : nevicata
- :( : Total Exodus
- Read this as EA to be acquired by PopCap. Pegglefield 3 announced. : 67
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  EA: We feel that the variety of plants is confusing to the general user and thus in PvZ2 there will be 1 ... : loke662
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    For more hard core players, there of course will be DLC that will feature more plants and grass! : Fpsnut
    - Players interested in multiplayer can redeem the one time use multiplayer ticket that comes with new copi... : Rooster Cockburn
    - We hope to have the DX 11 patch out any time now.... : loke662
  - lol : Godhatesfatpeople
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  So I guess all those games are gonna be removed from steam too? : jonin
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    why would they be? : Korban
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      Because EA owns them now, and EA hates Steam (but publicly denies having a "war on Steam", despite pullin... : the archvile
      
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      did you read the reason Crysis 2 was pulled and why BF3 won't show up on Steam? : Korban
      
      Because EA does not wish to comply with steam terms any longer, because they are idiots. : master_disaster_17
      
      The reason EA gave was generally considered to be a bunch of horse shit. : SniperWolf22
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      oh I don't know, EA being jackasses? : jonin
      
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      And how does Steam decideing to stop carrying a couple of EA games make EA a bunch of jackasses? : capt tripps
      
      NO NO NO NO NO, stop it right now, we are not having this fucking discussion AGAIN. : edge198
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    haha oy vey : dantastic
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      haha yeah I want an oy vey tag too : deject
      
      haha denied! : prime8
- or•i•gin (ôr-jn, r-) 1) The point at which something comes into existence that I don't care about... : mournival
- That sucks, but I'd take the money : dmason
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  All the perished brands should've been realization enough of why this was a bad idea. Ah well. All that ... : stelth
  - It is always a terrible idea to sell high. : Deathlove
- That's a pretty big score for EA. : Pneum0
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  EA. My first game from that monolith was "Pinball Construction Set" for the Atari 800XL mid-80s, when the... : freezejeans
  - That was a freakin' awesome game! : BlockheadBrown
- So PopCap games are about to be shitty? As is tradition. : scan
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  Ok, let's start this now: bets on how long pop cap lasts before EA dissolves it and starts farming the IP... : SolrFlare
  - #66
    
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    By: Haxim x Show Full Post
    
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    Actually I think it would be better to take bets on when EA resurrects the long since defunct PopCap name for the Nth relaunch of their online store.
    
    Jul 12, 2011 9:13pm PDT
    
    Actually I think it would be better to take bets on when EA resurrects the long since defunct PopCap name... : Haxim
- Well, fuck. : razor851
- Lots of insanity in here. There has been one example of a game being pulled from Steam. And no exampl... : Chipwarrior

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